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Speaker 1: The Pittsburgh Steelers select Troy Bakanu tackle Washington.

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Speaker 2: There you go now to themselves tackle.

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Speaker 1: He's a competitor and he loves football. He loves the

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Speaker 1: things that come with football. His passion is real. It

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Speaker 1: is a calling card coupled with his tremendous athletic talent.

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Speaker 1: Just turn the table. He's a black and gold type

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Speaker 1: of a guy.

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Speaker 3: Troy officially Welcome to Pittsburgh as a member of the Steelers.

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Speaker 3: You said it was a dream come true for you.

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Speaker 3: Has it sunk in yet? Does it feel real?

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Speaker 2: No, to be so honest, I haven't really had the

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Speaker 2: opportunity to really like soak it all in. But I

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Speaker 2: think once I hop on the plane and take off,

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Speaker 2: I think I'll start to think back and realize what

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Speaker 2: just happened, Because these twenty four hours have been a

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Speaker 2: blurred have been hectic.

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Speaker 1: So, yeah, who.

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Speaker 4: All was at your draft party?

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Speaker 3: And why was it important to have all those people

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Speaker 3: with you for such an important moment?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, basically I had pretty much close to my whole family.

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Speaker 2: It was started off supposed to be like around fifty

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Speaker 2: people and then you know how they usually go. It

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Speaker 2: is a term from multiplied by two It was like

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Speaker 2: a hundred people there, but I wouldn't have traded it

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Speaker 2: for the world.

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Speaker 1: Man, everyone there, everyone that was there was supposed to

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Speaker 1: be there, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 2: It is the one biggest thing that I wanted to

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Speaker 2: happen was that I shared that moment with my grandmother's

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Speaker 2: which is what happened. And those two, you know, they

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Speaker 2: have put so much time in, you know, trying to

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Speaker 2: take care of.

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Speaker 1: Me when I was younger. I lived with them when

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Speaker 1: I was younger.

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Speaker 2: I'm very close to them, and they just don't travel,

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Speaker 2: so it was it was really important for me to

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Speaker 2: be there with them and then the rest of my family,

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Speaker 2: you know, just getting to share that moment with them

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Speaker 2: was something I never prayed for the world.

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Speaker 3: So and you got to bring mom, dad, and sister

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Speaker 3: here right to Pittsburgh and dad is a Stealers fan.

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Speaker 4: That's how this all started for you.

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Speaker 2: No, So I started as the Yeah I was going

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Speaker 2: against the grand but yeah, it was actually me.

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Speaker 1: I grew up.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, who's this guy, Troy Polamal. You got the

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Speaker 2: same name as me, And I'm like, oh damn, this

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Speaker 2: guy's good. And then it went from me that to

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Speaker 2: being number forty three in little league football. And from

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Speaker 2: then on I just continued to watch the Steelers and

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Speaker 2: just loved everything about the team.

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Speaker 1: And you know, here I am today. It's crazy to

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Speaker 1: say that.

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Speaker 3: I know they try to use Troy to help you

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Speaker 3: go to USC, which didn't work out. But have you

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Speaker 3: touched base with Troy at all ors he reached out

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Speaker 3: to you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he did reach out to me yesterday.

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Speaker 2: So I lost my phone yesterday after the draft after

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Speaker 2: they announced it, for like an hour and a half.

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Speaker 2: So the whole time, the whole entire time, I was

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Speaker 2: getting phone calls and text messages and I'm screwing through

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Speaker 2: just seeing it. And I see a car Idea said Troy

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Speaker 2: for mom. I'm like, oh shoot, I got to call

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Speaker 2: this guy back. So I called him back.

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Speaker 1: He didn't answer. I'm sure he was busy.

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Speaker 2: He left the voice smashes though, But yeah, that was

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Speaker 2: probably the last time that I talked to him. The

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Speaker 2: last time I did speak to him was when I

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Speaker 2: see him at USC. So he's just he's an idol,

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Speaker 2: you know, for me, I grew up idolizing the guy.

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Speaker 1: And he does everything right. He lives off the field,

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Speaker 1: he does everything right. He does everything in the community

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Speaker 1: that I want to do someday, and he's truely in inspiration.

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Speaker 3: So also your fandom for the Steelers. Of course, fans

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Speaker 3: dug up some old tweets, some good tweets supporting Ben

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Speaker 3: Roethlisberger the offense.

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Speaker 4: Who else did you like besides.

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Speaker 2: Troy Ben Roethlisberger was a big I was a big

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Speaker 2: fan of his. I was a fan of James Harrison,

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Speaker 2: Ike Taylor. When I seen him today, I was like,

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Speaker 2: I was starstruk. But I tried not to be a

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Speaker 2: fan boy on the old line, David DeCastro, Marquees, Pouncy.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, just a lot of the guys when I

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Speaker 2: was in middle school, like high school, growing up, just

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Speaker 2: watching them play man. It always was a dream of

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Speaker 2: mine to play here in the NFL, honestly.

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Speaker 4: So, okay, I want to talk about you.

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Speaker 3: One of the scouting reports said this, and you can

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Speaker 3: tell me if it's tru or false.

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Speaker 4: Always looking for someone to block and competes with a

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Speaker 4: touch of insanity.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. For me, it's just like it's a

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Speaker 2: way of life. It's it's a way of playing football.

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Speaker 2: And I really do feel like like the Steelers, how

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Speaker 2: they played football, their brand of football like fits like

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Speaker 2: I fit the culture around here.

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Speaker 1: Now.

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Speaker 2: I'm truly grateful to be part of the organization because

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Speaker 2: I feel like I can, you know, provide that or

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Speaker 2: bring that, you know what I mean. I'm a product

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Speaker 2: of the people around me and the people around me

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Speaker 2: at Washington. We're some really really good coaches and some

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Speaker 2: really good players, so I kind of get that from

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Speaker 2: them as well.

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Speaker 3: So is the mentality the physicality. Is that just on

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Speaker 3: the field or is that also just kind of.

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Speaker 4: Like the wave of life for me?

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Speaker 1: No, I'm not like that at all. Off the field.

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Speaker 1: People are very.

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Speaker 2: Shocked when they talk to me and the like they see,

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Speaker 2: you know.

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Speaker 1: The way I play football. It's I guess it's like

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Speaker 1: a switch.

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Speaker 2: You know what I mean, like that you flip whenever

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Speaker 2: you whenever I work out anything that has to do

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Speaker 2: with football, which is pretty much everything other than just

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Speaker 2: living my personal life. And I try to live that way,

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Speaker 2: you know, like intentional, like trying to find any way

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Speaker 2: to help, you know what I mean, whether that's hitting

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Speaker 2: my guy as hard as I can or hitting another

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Speaker 2: guy as hard as I can.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, but I.

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Speaker 2: Would say I'm a lot different off the field if

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Speaker 2: you get to know me, So.

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Speaker 4: What position do you prefer to play for me?

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Speaker 1: Honestly, anywhere that I can contribute to the team.

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Speaker 2: Man, I'm like I told these coaches when I came

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Speaker 2: in and that I'm I have the ability to play anywhere,

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Speaker 2: you know what I mean, And wherever Coach Tomlin, wherever

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Speaker 2: Coach Meyer feel fit.

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Speaker 1: And that's why I'm going to play, you know what

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Speaker 1: I mean.

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Speaker 2: I'm just here to contribute to the team and try

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Speaker 2: to win some games.

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Speaker 3: You're the first player from Washington drafted by the Steelers

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Speaker 3: since Mark Brunner, who I think you know maybe a

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Speaker 3: little bit. Well, I've heard he picked you up for

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Speaker 3: the pre your pre draft visit and was a deaf

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Speaker 3: and uber driver for you.

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Speaker 2: No, he was a great He He hyped up the

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Speaker 2: tunnel a lot, so I was expecting a lot and

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Speaker 2: he didn't disappoint.

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Speaker 1: It was it was. It was awesome. And I'm like, dude.

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Speaker 2: You didn't have to do that, but you know he

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Speaker 2: did it because he's been around the facility.

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Speaker 1: I've talked to him many many times.

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Speaker 2: Me and his sons played football at job and those

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Speaker 2: guys are super awesome and man, It's just it's cool

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Speaker 2: to see another familiar face around here, you know what

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Speaker 2: I mean, Because coming into this world, it's an adjustment

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Speaker 2: for sure, coming from Washington, I've been there for so long.

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Speaker 1: But it's awesome to have him around, for sure.

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Speaker 3: And what's something you want fans to know about you

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Speaker 3: that maybe they haven't googled or figured out yet?

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Speaker 1: I like to watch movies. I don't know if that

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Speaker 1: that's the track we're.

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Speaker 2: Going on, that's cool. But what's your favorite top Gun?

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Speaker 2: Top Gun two is probably my favorite movie of all time.

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Speaker 2: I probably watched it like six or seven times throughout

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Speaker 2: this process.

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Speaker 1: I would say that's something that none really knows about me.

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Speaker 1: I like to do with my free time.

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Speaker 2: I mean, people, a lot of people know I cut hair,

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Speaker 2: so maybe I could be the team barber here, but

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Speaker 2: I'm sure you.

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Speaker 1: Guys already have one. But yeah, that that's, you know,

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Speaker 1: just some random.

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Speaker 4: Things that How did that start?

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Speaker 2: I just decided that I didn't want my dad to

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Speaker 2: cut my hair anymore and just picked up a pair

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Speaker 2: of clippers and was like, if someone's gonna mess up

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Speaker 2: my hair, it's gonna be me.

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Speaker 1: So okay, yeah, all.

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Speaker 4: Right, Well thanks for your time and welcome again.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much,